Refractory product and method of making same



Patented Jam 5, 193 2:

UNIT D s nus.

PATENT; [OFFICE WILLIAM J. McoAuGnEY, or oonumnus, OHIO; Assrqnon, BY nnsnnnssrenmnnrsro BASIC IDOLOMITE, imoonronn'rnn, or marlin onovn, OHIO, A conronn'rron or.

OHIO

N6 Drawing. 7

This invention, relating as indicated to basicrefractory materials and methodsof making same,-has more particular regard to gredients. I I a The object of the invention is to produce a basic refractory material which can be successfully used in various forms of; refractory construction and inmaking various refrac- I p temperature of a mlxture of finely divided y toryf bodies, whether in the form of previous- I 1y shaped and burned brick, or ,monolithic structures, formed in situ, used in the metal-j wfinedj'as including silica, alumina and iron lurgical industries, and successfully meetthe requirements of these yarioususes. Former-' tain-purposes-as foreXample 1H making a clinker for use in refractory brick, a mod-' erate lyhigh silica-content is desirable, and

- "a further object of the invention :is the addi- I tion of such silica, alongwith a'oertain per i centage; of iron. oxide,through the medium,

, or in the form of anaturally occurring minevanescent ingredient, assists in bringing; about a greater degree of maturity and eral, The preferred mineral,viz glauconite, still more particularly, serves asthe means of introducing potash which, although an sounder clinker} The method of manufacture is not necessarily limited to use with'the 'particular combination of ingredients or, in other words, in theproduction of a refractory having the specific analysis hereinafter set forth, although a refractory made from such disclosed combination of ingredients and; having such analysis inthe finished form is superior to those-hitherto produced in cer- 'tain physical properties.- i

To-the accomplishment of the foregoing j and related ends,-the invention, then, consists of'the composition of matter and the steps involved inthe manufacture ofthe same hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out intheclaims, thefollowingde-s v 1 scriptlon setting forth in detail a certani apf REFRACTORY PRODUGT/ANDMETHODOF MAKINGJSAME Application filed l 'anuary 'll,19 27. Serial No. 160,518.

{proved combination of ingredients together with one approved method of compounding the same, such disclosed composition and 7 basic refractory materials made from dolo-wv mite or its equivalent, ashereinafterlexplained, and certainso-called fluxing ;in-'.

mode,however, constituting but one of vari- 'ous'ways in which the principle of the inven tionmaybe used.

In U. S. Patent No. 1,230,430, granted George W; Patnoe under date of June 19,

1917, there is disclosed a refractory material consistingof a granular product resulting from the calcination or firing at an elevated provided the proper selection be made of the fluxing materials that areused and provided they are used within certain ranges of ratios and amounts.

Y It will, however, sufiice to state for the purpose 'in'hand that the aggregate amount of the 'fiuxing ingredients introduced may vary from approximately five (5) 'to approximately fifteen (15) per cent. I

The following specifiocompositions are Dolornite Iron oxide Silica 7 Per cent Per cent Per cent iii) Other typical formulas, illustrating compositions in commercial use wherein alumina is present are also given, VlZ

Dolomite Iron oxide Alumina Silica Per cent Per cent Per cent Per cent 91. 00 4. 75 1.5 2. 75 95.00 3. 00 1. 0 1.00 94. 00 2. 00 1. 5 2. 5O

VVh-atever be the particular combination of raw materials, whether that specifically disclosed in such original Patnoe patent or the various compositions just described, it s necessary that the raw dolomite or magnesium limestone and fluxes should be brought into a physical state wherein such fluxes, and particularly the silica in the case of such rmroved product, will readily combine with the lime (Ca-O). To this end such raw materials are intimately mixed, preferably by fine grinding (although with the higher ranges of fluxes herein specified, such fine grinding becomes less important), and the mixture thereupon burned at a temperature of approximately 2100 degrees F. or higher until the product becomes well shrunken and dense. In practice the mixture is preferably ground with the addition of water and the to. the fluxing ingredients have been introduced in the form of clay and/or iron oxide (in the form of iron ore, scale, etc.) and/or sand. I have now found that superior results are obtained if a small quantity of a compound on the order of the mineral glauconite be added to the mixture of'raw ingredients, with or without further small quantities of the ingredients first named. Glauconite is essentially a hydrous silicate of iron and potassium and, as is well known, a substance which gives the color to the grains of greensand marl. To the extent that such glauconite provides iron oxide and silica, the percentage of iron oxide and silica or sand hereinbefore prescribed will be correspondingly reduced where such glauconite is added to the raw mixture. At the same time, due to the potassium content (potash) of the mineral,

desired reactions between the lime and the fluxing ingredients proper. The potash, it should be explained, substantially entirely disappears in the course of the firing and so may be regarded as an evanescent ingredient, not appearing in the final product in mere than a fraction of a per cent. (e. g. 0.5 per cent.) at the most, so that its action is akin to that of a catalyst, or more correctly a reaction promoter.

While reference has hereinbefore been made to dolomite or magnesian limestone as the base of the present improved refractory, it should be stated that the advantages derived from the addition of glauoonite or equivalent silicates are also of a consequential character where dealing with Canadian magnesite or other magnesites containing appreciable percentages of calcium oxide for the production of a refractory in the form of a dead-burned clinker.

lVhile I have indicated that a rotary kiln is preferably employed to heat the mixture of raw materials to the necessar temperature, it will be understood that I 0 not limit myself to the use of this particular instrumentality; nor in the case of such rotary kiln need the material be passed therethrough in the form of a slurry. Thus, instead of the hereinbefore described procedure, the finely and thoroughly intermixed raw materials may be compacted into the form of briquettes and these thereupon fired in a stack or tunnel type of kiln; or briquettes thus formed of the raw material may be broken u into fragments of desired size and then red in a rotary kiln. It will also be understood, of course, that instead of starting with raw dolomite, or magnesian limestone, the specified fluxing ingredients, in corresponding larger amounts, may be combined with a mixture of calcium and magnesium oxides resulting from the calcination of such dolomite or magnesian limestone, derived from any other source.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the composition and method herein disclosed, provided the ingredients or steps stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated ingredients or steps be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention 1. A method of making a refractory material for furnace linings and the like, which comprises intermixing magnesian limestone and glauconite, and firing the mixture at a high heat to a clinkered granular product.

2. A method of making a refractory material for furnace linings and the like, which comprises intermixing magnesian limestone and glauconite, and passing the mixture through a rotary kiln at a temperature in excess of 2100 F.

3. A refractory material suitable for furnace linings and the like, consisting of the clinkered granular product material from the firing at 'gh temperature of a mixture of magnesian limestone and glauconite.

Signed by me this 7th da of January, 1927.

' WILLIAM J. OOAUGHEY. 

